


The Wrong Gopher

by Metal_Chocobo



Category: Women's Hockey RPF
Genre: Bad Decisions, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, One Night Stands, Post-Break Up, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers, University of Wisconsin Badgers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-01
Updated: 2015-04-01
Packaged: 2018-03-20 16:58:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3658128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Metal_Chocobo/pseuds/Metal_Chocobo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Amanda bailed on their plans to hang out as best bros Hilary decides to take home the hottest person at the bar instead because that would show her. She could have way more fun without her.</p><p>She just hadn't realized that person was Noora Räty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Wrong Gopher

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much to [oanja](http://archiveofourown.org/users/oanja/) for the Finnish translations. Also, thanks to [stellarer](http://archiveofourown.org/users/stellarer) for reading this, convincing me it wasn't half as horribly awkward as I had assumed, and generally acting as a sounding board because this started out as one of the many stories I text her.

Hilary was pissed. Here she was in a club with a lot of hot sexy available women and instead of living it up she was sitting at the bar glaring at her phone. There was a good reason for this. Amanda was supposed to meet her at this bar, but she had bailed at the last second. She didn’t even have a decent excuse! Just texted, _‘Not 2nite Hils’_ to let Hilary know Amanda was throwing their age-old tradition out the window. Since they had first met they always hung out together when they were in the same place. This was especially true since Amanda became a Gopher and they only got to see each other a few times a year. Before that… Hilary didn’t want to think about it.

Hilary downed her shot and scrolled through her last dozen exchanges with Amanda. She had been distinctly less fun to talk to over the last two months, barely commenting on the pictures Hilary sent of her latest conquests. Amanda’s new girlfriend ruined everything.

The bartender set a freshly opened bottle of beer in front of her. Hilary grinned and licked her lips, which caused the bartender to smirk in return. This was a Badger friendly bar and athletes always received excellent service. Though Hilary had to admit, the fact she had a threesome with her and her girlfriend that summer didn’t hurt. Amanda had been super impressed. They were attractive women.

Hilary downed a third of her beer. Amanda had been a shitty friend lately, but this was the first time she had abandoned Hilary. It was enough to make Hilary wonder if Amanda didn’t want to be friends anymore. It’s not like she had been planning on having sex with her best friend that night—Hilary understood how girlfriends worked—but she had wanted to hang out. Bros only fucked each other when they were both single. Hilary didn’t begrudge Amanda her girlfriend in the slightest. Far from it. In fact she was delighted to hear how well Amanda was doing after she had, without warning, chosen Minnesota over Madison and dumped Hilary in the process.

Hilary wasn’t bitter in the slightest. It was lovely that Amanda had found a girlfriend, who happened to be Canadian and not particularly interested in hockey. She had never heard of a Canadian uninterested in hockey before, but one learned something new every day. Hilary just wished Amanda would show her a picture of them together. Apparently Canadians were also camera shy.

Hilary had finished half her drink when she realized all she had done so far was glare at her phone. So what if Amanda didn’t want to hang out, she was Hilary Knight and the last thing Hilary Knight did in a bar was sulk. She chugged the rest of her beer before slamming the empty bottle on the counter. Then she turned around to face the clientele. Hilary was 100% Grade A lady meat and she knew there wasn’t a single person in the bar who didn’t want a piece of her. All she had to do was pick out the right one. The one that would make Amanda jealous she wasn’t hanging out with Hilary.

She scanned the room for a suitable partner. There were some decent guys, but that wouldn’t do anything for Amanda. Hilary needed a babe, preferably one who was at least a factor of ten hotter than Amanda. She spotted a viable candidate across the bar, but to be certain Hilary had to check her out personally. She pocketed her phone and crossed the room. With a deep breath Hilary put on her game face. If this lady looked half as good up close as she did from a distance Hilary was gonna cause her to swoon. When she got within a few feet of the lady Hilary announced her presence.

“Hey,” Hilary said, plastering on a smirk. Ladies often told her they loved her confidence. The blonde turned around to face Hilary. Her eyes widened, but after a second of looking at the Badger a Cheshire Cat-like grin spread across the woman’s face. 

“Hey,” the blonde responded. She crossed her arms, but leaned forward a bit toward Hilary.

Obviously, she liked what she saw; Hilary couldn’t blame her for having good taste. Hilary liked what she saw. She had been able to tell that it was a short blonde lady from a distance, but it was only now Hilary could tell she was a natural platinum blonde. Amanda was more of a golden blonde. Hilary liked platinum better. It was sexier. She also appeared a touch shorter than Amanda, which was great because that would make it easier to carry her. Her eyes were narrower, but the same shade of blue as Amanda’s eyes. Hilary should know; she had stared into Amanda’s eyes enough that she would never forget that lake blue. Her face was fairly thin and she had a pale complexion, which was mysteriously similar to a creature of the night, unlike Amanda’s own wholesome sun kissed skin. She was at least as pretty as Amanda and Hilary could tell from the tilt of her shoulders this lady had confidence Kessel never possessed.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” Hilary said. It was trite, but true, and she was too buzzed to come up with something original.

“I have not been here before,” the woman said. She had a sexy accent. Hilary thought it might be European, but all she was certain of was that it wasn’t that blah Midwestern one everyone around these parts seemed to have. Unless she was excited or mad Amanda had one of the most boring voices in the world. Hilary used to tease her about it just to piss her off. She always sounded so much more exciting when angry.

“You chose a good night to come,” Hilary said.

“Really? Why is that?” she asked. The three girls near her were watching their interaction with great interest. So Hilary had to impress more than just this sexy lady. Great, Hilary loved a challenge.

“A great DJ, sick beats, energetic crowds.” Hilary paused, gauging the woman’s interest. “Me.”

“Are you telling me that you are a serious attraction?” she snorted, but her grin had widened. The Knight charm never failed.

“Oh yeah, total crowd pleaser.”

“In what way?”

“I am a fabulous dancer,” Hilary said. She waggled her eyebrows. “Among other things.”

“I see.” Her grin turned feral. “Care to back your claims?”

Hilary offered a hand, which the woman instantly accepted. The taller woman may have been the one to lead them onto the dance floor, but that didn’t mean she was the one to lead the dance. It quickly dissolved into the pair vying for control, which Hilary found exhilarating. This woman didn’t give up an inch. Amanda was always passive when dancing with Hilary. In fact, the only people who ever gave her this much resistance were dudes who thought they should be the one in control. Hilary recognized that this woman moved with the same self-confidence she had, which meant she was badass enough to back up her swagger. Since it came in such a tiny package she was irresistible.

Hilary knew she was taking her home when the woman shoved her against a wall. She was surprised when the blonde didn’t immediately drag her down for a kiss. When their eyes met Hilary realized she was waiting for her reaction. Hilary smashed their lips together. It quickly turned into the second type of hockey Hilary played well. By the time they broke apart both women were panting and the blonde had her arms around Hilary’s neck, keeping her bent over. When she resumed her natural stance Hilary pulled the woman up into her arms. Yes, the height difference was that significant. She was heavier than Amanda, but Hilary could feel her through her clothes and she was all muscle.

“Are you normally this rough with your dance partners?” Hilary asked. She could feel her breath tickle her neck.

“If they can handle it,” she said with a smirk. Hilary could feel her nails on the back of her neck. She looked into Hilary’s eyes almost searchingly. “Is it a problem?”

“Only if you can’t take it as well as you dish it out,” Hilary replied. She hoped that was what the blonde wanted. It was true and sounded right for the situation.

She sighed and Hilary almost thought she saw a frown flit across the blonde’s face, but a toothy grin rapidly formed instead. She patted Hilary’s side, getting the Badger to put her down. Fingers interlocked the blonde towed her toward the door. Hilary didn’t mind. She’d take the lead once they were out of the bar. As they passed by the table where Hilary first introduced herself one of the girls still seated there grabbed the lady’s arm.

“Are you leaving?” the girl asked.

“Yep,” Hilary’s blonde said. There were other blondes at the table.

“Are you certain that’s wise?” she asked.

“You can handle half a dozen drunk girls on your own. I do it all the time.”

“Yeah, but they respect you.”

“They respect you too, co-captain.” She patted the girl on the arm. “But if they trouble you remind them that I can kick their asses in the morning.” Hilary did not like the fact this statement made the blonde even more attractive to her.

“Okay, well, if you run into any trouble don’t hesitate to call us.”

“I assure you that if you should be worried about anyone it should be her,” the blonde said, jerking her head in Hilary’s direction.

They were already undressing each other before getting inside Hilary’s apartment. The blonde had just finished unbuttoning Hilary’s shirt when the forward finally got her front door open. All she had been able to do to the shorter woman was take off her scrunchie, causing her locks to cascade down into a loose mane. Amanda never wore her hair up quite like that, but then again she couldn’t rock a bun like this lady could. Still, Hilary thought long hair looked sexier down, which is why she freed it.

The woman grinned up at Hilary before bending down and licking her from her navel to the bottom of her bra. The taller woman shivered and shoved her into the apartment. Amanda would have squawked indignantly and maybe tried to shut the door on her, but this woman just laughed. She turned and curled a finger at her. Hilary had no choice but to comply, slamming the door shut as she strode over to the stranger. Once she was within grabbing distance the blonde yanked her down into a kiss.

Like all of their interactions it was a play for dominance. Hilary probed with her tongue as extensively as she received. She was absurdly pleased to see the blonde was the one panting harder when they finally broke apart. Having larger lungs had its advantages and Hilary had never been the type to intentionally handicap herself. As the other woman was still winded the Badger took this opportunity to remove the blonde’s hoodie, accidently taking her shirt underneath too. Before Hilary could wriggle her fingers into her bra the shorter woman used Hilary’s awkward positioning and higher center of gravity against her, toppling her onto the couch. Hilary landed face first. A moment later the blonde landed on her back unexpectedly.

“Ouch shit,” Hilary swore.

“What?” she asked, wresting off Hilary’s shirt.

“Give me a little warning before you pull a stunt like that.”

“Does this mean I need to say please before I bite?” she whispered into Hilary’s ear. The forward froze as she listened to the snaps of her bra come apart. When her breasts were no longer restrained she rolled over to face the other woman.

“I—fuck.” Hilary swallowed hard, unable to finish her sentence.

“Biting is off the table,” she said flatly, disappointment etched across her face. The forward licked her lips. They’d never get anywhere if she acted defensive. She shoved the blonde backwards until they had switched positions.

“Fuck yes biting’s on the table,” Hilary laughed. She bent down to nibble her collarbone. She had never even dared broach the subject with Kessel for fear of the look she’d get. Banging this random lady was going to be so much more fun than Amanda. Kinda a shame she didn’t have a clue who this was.

“I wish you had not said that. That was a… I believe the term is mood killer?” She shoved the Badger away as Hilary belatedly realized she had voiced her last thought.

“Hey wait,” Hilary said, grabbing at her belt loops as the blonde rolled underneath her. “Are… are those Olympic rings on your back?”

“Yes,” she said, glaring over her shoulder at Hilary. “What of it?”

“I played in the Vancouver Olympics,” Hilary said, touching the 2010 at the bottom of the tramp stamp.

“And I have participated in two.”

“Seriously, we were at Vancouver together?” Hilary asked. “Damn girl, we must play radically different sports.”

“How so?” The blonde sat back down with a bemused expression on her face.

“Because I would have remembered someone as drop dead gorgeous as you.” At this the blonde laughed. It was a full-bodied laugh that had her breasts jiggling. Hilary relaxed, smirking and wiggling her eyebrows, which just set the other woman off even more. Her anonymous hook up probably wasn’t leaving.

“I doubt that very much,” she said when she finally recovered enough to speak. She wiped the corner of her eye.

“Of course I would! Or wait—you aren’t trying to tell me we banged before and I forgot?”

“What? No. I have not had that particular pleasure.”

“Okay, but you still want to?”

“Yes,” she grinned. The blonde wrapped a hand around the back of Hilary’s neck, pulling her close until they were nose to nose. “I would like that very much.”

Sometime between rounds two and three Hilary decided that her current lay was much better than Amanda. She was certainly stronger, as Hilary had never been carried from her couch to her bed before. She was way more flexible than Amanda, which was fantastic because it made the height difference easier to navigate. The aggression the blonde displayed at the bar carried over to the bedroom. Hilary thrived under pressure, so it was nice having someone taunting and cajoling her to perform better. Perhaps this wasn’t what she wanted every night—she got bitten more than expected and didn’t bite back well—but this was definitely an experience she wouldn’t regret.

It was rare Hilary got to fuck someone of such similar skill and temperament. This made her wonder what sport her partner participated in. Considering the fact she had been to two Olympics and seemed to have a thick, but sturdy torso it seemed unlikely she was a figure skater. Hilary knew figure skaters were super buff like her blonde from hands on experience, but they tended to be more svelte than this woman. With the flexibility Hilary wondered if she was a skier or possibly a snowboarder. She didn’t seem like the curling or luge type. When Hilary asked if she was Norwegian in hopes she could determine identity through nationality instead of sport the blonde just shook her head and muttered something about Americans being unable to tell one accent from the next. In the end Hilary decided she didn’t care who her bedmate was. She was better than Amanda and that was all that mattered.

It took several hours for the Olympians to wear each other out. The process was entirely enjoyable for both of them. Afterwards Hilary sighed and lay across the left side of her bed. She absentmindedly rubbed one of the bite marks along her collarbone. It was sore and already starting to bruise. The shorter woman was flopped on her belly beside her. She had already commandeered Hilary’s favorite pillow. In an unexpected surge of affection Hilary rolled over and kissed the back of the other woman’s neck. That was probably the tenderest moment they had shared all night. Then the blonde rolled onto her side and pulled Hilary’s sheet up to her shoulders.

“What are you doing?” Hilary asked. She feared she already knew the answer.

“Going to sleep.” She turned her head, glaring at Hilary. “You are not kicking me out.”

“No?” Hilary had enough noise complaints against her from the last four hook ups that didn’t want to leave. She didn’t need another one, especially at an hour as late as this. The landlord might actually carry out his threat and begin the eviction process.

“Would you relax? I am spending the night, commandeering your shower in the morning, then leaving,” she said. When Hilary laughed in relief she punched her in the shoulder.

“That’s great,” Hilary said. A brilliant idea occurred to her, so she scrambled for her phone.

“I am not giving you my phone number,” she said. “This is a one off. Or did you forget almost kicking me out just now?”

“I don’t want that,” Hilary scowled. “Just a photo.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to send it to the asshole who stood me up tonight and let her know my night was a thousand times better without her,” Hilary said. The blonde laughed before agreeing.

Hilary sidled up close and wrapped an arm around the other woman. The blonde adjusted her sheet to make certain nothing risqué was exposed, but Hilary didn’t bother. She had sent Amanda naked photos before. Usually they were of herself. Still, she angled the camera to not expose too much cleavage. Amanda didn’t deserve free boob for bailing, especially not Knight boob.

She texted the photo to Amanda without any additional text. Hilary had considered adding ‘the night was better without you’ but figured that would sound petty. Besides, there was a long honored tradition of sending Amanda wordless texts of Hilary’s lays. Amanda would get the gist. Hilary smirked when her phone alerted her to successful delivery then promptly passed out.

Hilary woke up to the sound of falling water. It took her a minute to realize last night’s hook up must be in the shower. She lay there feeling happy and content. Today was Friday, which meant there was a game tonight. Better yet it was a home game against Minnesota. That was why Amanda was in town, even if she blew off their plans. Hilary couldn’t wait to kick her ass for the slight.

Speaking of payback Hilary suddenly remembered the last thing she had done last night. Surely Amanda had responded by now. That blonde had to have elicited a reaction from her. She was a total knockout. Hilary rolled onto her belly as she grabbed her phone. She wanted to be comfy as she read Amanda’s reaction.

A. Kessel had sent almost forty texts. Hilary frowned, as she looked at the four most recent on her screen. That seemed like an overreaction to Hilary’s photo. Especially as the four texts she could see were just exclamation marks. Hilary needed coffee before she could sort through this mess. Amanda was probably just being overdramatic. She was sometimes.

Hilary scrounged up a pair of shorts then wandered out into the kitchen. It took her a while to find her coffee beans—Hilary wasn’t the neatest of people, but she could usually find whatever she was looking for in her things, the exception being when Amanda the pack rat stayed for the weekend and turned her pad into a warzone—but once she had them in hand the coffee was practically made. She refused to start Amanda’s tirade until after her first sip of coffee.

_What?_

_Hils who is that?_

_Did you even get a name before you took her home?_

_That’s Noora that’s totally Noora_

_You slept with my captain!_

_You slept with my goalie_

_You fucked our goalie captain!_

_OUR GOALIE CAPTAIN_

_If you broke her we are all going to kill you._

_Why isn’t she picking up? Hilary if you did something to her phone I am never speaking to you again._

_If Noora isn’t back with the team by noon I am coming over there and kicking down your door._

_IS THAT UNDERSTOOD_

_YOU DON'T TOUCH THE GOALIE_

_NEVER TOUCH THE GOALIE_

_BAD HILARY_

_BAD!_

_Bad!!!_

_bad!!!_

_!!!!!_

Hilary briefly skimmed the rest of the texts. They were all just ‘Bad Hilary,’ ‘bad,’ ‘no,’ or a series of exclamation marks, like the very first texts Hilary saw. Some of them excessively included extra letters, usually vowels. Amanda had truly melted downed early this morning. Hilary frowned then set the phone down on her table. If she was the Gopher’s goalie that would certainly explain the flexibility. Hilary loved goalies, they embodied most of the qualities she wanted in a lover, but she drew the line at Golden Gophers. Amanda was the exception because she had the unique loophole of being Hilary’s fuck buddy since before she joined that blight on the Midwest. She was grandmothered into Hilary’s bed.

Hilary looked up to see the blonde walk into the kitchen in just a towel. What did Amanda call her? Noora? Was that a typo and Amanda really meant Nora? What kind of weirdo named their kid Noora?

“Smells good,” she said, nodding her head at Hilary’s cup. Hilary had forgotten about the sexy accent. Okay, Noora it was. Foreigners usually had weird names. “Can I have some? Barring that, have you seen my pants?”

“You’re a Gopher?” Hilary asked. She felt stupid the moment the words were out of her mouth. Maybe Amanda was wrong. She only had a single shitty text photo.

“Yes, Noora Räty, starting goalie at your service,” she said. The smirk was back. She poured herself a cup of coffee and took the seat across from Hilary. “Is that a problem?”

“Yes!” Hilary shouted. Noora apologized, but she didn’t sound remotely sorry.

“If it makes you feel better you can come to our game tonight and cheer for the Badgers. I would not blame you. As this is women’s hockey at Madison I highly doubt they have sold out yet. Hockey seems to be a bigger deal at the U of M.”

“That’s because Minnesota is shit at every other sport,” Hilary snapped. “And I damn well know about the game tonight!”

“Excellent, then I will be looking for you in the stands,” Noora said. “You should be easy enough to spot considering how empty Kohl Center usually is during the game. It is a shame how few seats the Badgers fill; Ridder is usually full.”

“Our women’s rink opens this fall!” Hilary snapped. “It’ll be bursting with fans.”

“I see. Well, I should have enough free time to look for you while my Gophers are harrying Rigsby. Badgers do not stand a chance.”

“I’m on the fucking team and I’m gonna get like two hat tricks off you!” Hilary roared.

“I know exactly who you are, Hilary Knight, and until you proved otherwise last night I thought you knew who I was too,” Noora said, for once not smiling. “You may have scored last night—several times and quite enjoyably actually, the rumors about you at Vancouver were right—but you are not scoring even once tonight.”

Hilary was a reasonable person, but Noora had gone too far. She flipped the table and went straight for Noora. Amanda’s warning be damned. She was going to kill that goalie. She was going to rip her throat right out.

Hilary didn’t realize her murderous plans had gotten off track until Noora pushed her away. Instead of ripping or squeezing Noora’s throat like she wanted, Hilary had ended up kissing it. She quickly worked her way up to Noora’s mouth. They passionately smashed their mouths together before Noora stopped the forward. Hilary couldn’t remember what she was supposed to be doing. Noora had lost her towel.

“While I normally like morning sex, you should have offered before I showered,” Noora said, stroking Hilary’s jaw. She sipped her coffee. Hilary’s own cup was currently bleeding into the carpet. She shouldn’t have flipped the table.

Noora pressed the coffee mug into Hilary’s hands as she stood up. She picked her pants up off the ground then walked into Hilary’s bedroom. Hilary finished Noora’s coffee. The goalie emerged fully dressed and walked back to the Badger.

“Thanks for the sex and the pre-game shit talk,” Noora said brightly.

“That’s talking shit,” Hilary corrected. Noora kissed her.

“I look forward to leaving you angry and frustrated tonight,” she grinned, before walking out Hilary’s door.

If Noora’s goal was to leave Hilary angry and frustrated, then mission a-fucking-complished. Hilary buried her face in her hands and groaned. Amanda was going to kill her. She had fucked her goalie. A lot. Hilary just hoped the day wouldn’t get any worse.

They lost the game that night. It ended with a goal by Sarah Erikson, the only Gopher wearing a C on the ice, late in the third period tilting things back in Minnesota’s favor. Before that Amanda had scored, much to Hilary’s chagrin, and some fourth line freshmen on her own team that Hilary hadn’t bothered to get to know yet. That may have been the most stinging goal for Hilary because the forward hadn’t managed to get a single puck past Noora’s defenses. She had shot at least ten times and six of them were damn good ones, but nothing got past Noora. She caught them all, including one where the goalie almost literally had to stand on her head to block it. The worst part was that she could see Noora grinning at her through that stupid Goldy adorned mask the whole time.

It was all Hilary could do not to smash her stick against the ice when the final buzzer sounded. She made a beeline for her bench. She didn’t want to watch the Gophers celebrate. It would just make her angrier. Unfortunately, when Hilary glanced through the Plexiglas to the Gopher bench she caught sight of them. Amanda had her arms wrapped around Noora’s neck and was nuzzling her cheek. Noora’s helmet was off, which is how Hilary recognized her, but Hilary would always recognize Amanda’s body, in or out of uniform. The thing that killed Hilary about the situation though was the fact that when she and Noora locked eyes Noora had the audacity to wink at her. That bitch had been in Hilary’s bed last night and now had Amanda in her arms. She was rubbing it in Hilary’s face.

Hilary slammed into the Plexiglas then pounded. “Don’t you touch her!” she shouted. She didn’t actually know if she was talking to Noora or Amanda. Possibly both. There shouldn’t be any touching over there.

The Gophers broke apart at Hilary’s outburst. Amanda scowled at Hilary through the glass. She looked pissed. She banged back on the glass, which got Hilary to stop. Alex Rigsby grabbed Hilary by the arm and pulled her away. She resisted for a moment, but quickly gave in. Her teammate was just trying to keep her out of trouble. During the after game handshake Amanda wouldn’t take her hand. To show her she was more mature and sportsmanly, even if she had been a bit rude earlier, Hilary accepted Noora’s handshake. Though that was one of the most difficult things she had accepted all game.

No one said anything about Hilary’s behavior in the locker room, but Amanda was ready to give her an earful when she emerged. Amanda slammed her into a wall and Hilary wondered why she was never this forceful when they were dating. Amanda never appeared more energetic or alive than when she was enraged. Then she was a force of nature. Hilary didn’t dare shove her back. If she lost her temper she’d probably hurt Amanda and that was unacceptable.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Amanda demanded. “That screaming fit? Not cool. You do not tell me who I can or can’t touch. Noora is my goalie. Mine.”

“I didn’t see your name anywhere,” Hilary said snidely. “Believe me, I checked every inch of her.”

“Watch your mouth, that’s my captain you’re talking about,” she hissed.

“I didn’t see any ‘C’s on her either,” Hilary said. “Erikson wore it on the ice.”

“That’s because they’re co-captains and Noora’s too polite to wear it since she can’t act as a captain on the ice. You know that’s how it works for goalies on teams as good as ours. You know that!” Amanda shoved Hilary again. She had liked it the first time, but the charm was wearing off quickly. Hilary was willing to give up control, but she was no one’s punching bag. “Sarah and Noora are great co-captains. Sarah leads on the ice and Noora off it.”

“Which is exactly why Noora abandoned the team to go home with me last night,” Hilary said. She pulled Amanda’s hands off her shirt.

“You seduced her.”

“I did not!” Hilary snapped indignantly. “Or if I did she seduced me just as much as I did her.”

“Liar!”

“You might want to lower your volume,” Noora said. Neither girl registered her words and Hilary barely noticed her presence. If she thought about it Hilary would have realized Amanda hadn’t even registered Noora, her all attention was focused on Hilary. It would have been flattering under different circumstances.

“None of this would have happened if you had bothered to show up!” Hilary shouted.

“So it’s my fault now?”

“Yes!”

“I am not sleeping with you, Hilary! That part of our relationship is over!”

“I know that. God, I just wanted to see you. Is that too much to ask?” Hilary demanded. She shook her head to get the hair out of her eyes. “I know you’re faithful to your fake Canadian girlfriend.”

“She’s not fake!”

“Then what’s her name?” Hilary fixed Amanda with a hard stare. “Or can you show me a picture of your camera shy Canadian girlfriend who is uninterested in hockey? What Canadian isn’t interested in hockey?”

“At least she isn’t a silver medal loser,” Amanda snapped. The moment the words were out of her mouth Amanda’s eyebrows soared and her mouth fell open like she couldn’t believe what she had just said. It was too little too late.

Hilary felt like Amanda had just stabbed her in the gut. The pain was literally worse than if she had punched her, in part because Amanda was a terrible fighter, but mostly due to the words. Kessel could not have said anything more emotionally damaging to Hilary. She was used to physical pain—punches, shoves, and biting were all part of the game—but emotional pain hurt. When Hilary took a hit as badly as the one Amanda had just dealt she always fought back. No exceptions. Not even for Amanda.

“Is that why you dumped me?” Hilary asked. “Because I came in second place?”

“Hils,” Amanda said softly.

“I may not have won gold like I had promised, but silver is way better than bronze, congratulations by the way,” Hilary said, nodding at Noora. Noora nodded back, but her lips were pressed together so tightly Hilary could barely make them out. “And silver is worlds better than not making the cut.”

Amanda gasped. She looked how Hilary felt. Both of their wounds from Vancouver were still fresh. Noora reached over and rubbed Amanda’s arm. She glared at Hilary, as if trying to will her into silence. Hilary wanted to stop, but the Badger had a little more vitriol to share.

“We promised we’d win gold together, Kess,” Hilary said mournfully. “How the fuck was I supposed to do it on my own?”

“We are never ever getting back together,” Amanda hissed. 

“How original. That sounds like something out of a Taylor Swift song.”

“I’m not your friend and I will never consider you a teammate again.” Then she turned around and ran down the hall.

“Amanda!” Hilary screamed.

She had reached for the other woman when Amanda had first turned away, but Hilary had been unable to move her legs until the Gopher was out of sight. Hilary charged down the hall crying her name. She had thought Amanda had ripped her heart out a year and a half ago. She was wrong. Hilary couldn’t breath, but she kept running. She had to catch up to that bouncing ponytail. Nothing mattered more than Amanda. Not the win, not the gold, not hockey. Without Amanda—in any capacity really, Hilary would take what she could get—Hilary was nothing.

Hilary fell to her knees sobbing when she blasted through one of the main sets of glass doors at the front of the Kohl Center. She had searched every part of the building she had access to with no luck. Amanda Kessel had left the building. That was it. There was no way for Hilary to track her down now. Madison was too big of a place when trying to find one girl in particular.

She felt a hand land on her back and began rubbing it as the owner made a ‘shh’ sound. Hilary smacked the hand away and stood without looking behind her. She didn’t need any sympathy. It was a cold walk home in just shorts and a t-shirt, but Hilary didn’t care. Without Amanda it didn’t matter.

She had no idea how long she had been lying on the couch before the doorbell rang. Hilary continued to just lie there. She was waiting for the couch cushion to suffocate her. Whoever was ringing her bell would eventually go away. The bell rang three times with decent pauses in between the buzzes. Then someone leaned on the button without stopping, which meant Hilary’s apartment sounded like the inside of a hive. She couldn’t quietly cease to function with this racket. So she got up and answered the bell.

“What?” Hilary demanded.

“Let me up, Hilary,” a woman said. The intercom always distorted voices, but Hilary was able to decipher the message.

“Who is this?”

“Noora.”

“No way!”

“Come on, Hilary.”

“Why should I?”

“I brought a case of beer and Mexican takeout.” Hilary let her into the building, but she nearly slammed the door in Noora’s face when she got to the apartment. Perhaps the first words out of her mouth upon seeing Hilary shouldn’t have been, “I never would have slept with you if I had realized you were completely hung up on Amanda.”

“You don’t talk about her to me,” Hilary growled. She took the beer case from Noora.

“Fine,” Noora shrugged.

“Blue Moon, seriously?” Hilary asked as she looked at the beer. “Can you get any more stereotypical? Or was this the only beer you could get anyone to buy for you?”

“I bought it myself,” Noora said. “I am older than you.”

They both sat on the couch with the case of beer in between them. Noora handed Hilary a Styrofoam box after admitting she had no idea what Hilary would have liked. Hilary shrugged. At this point food was food and she didn’t particularly care what she ate. Hilary turned on the TV and flipped it to the classic movie channel. There was a western on, which was perfect. Mindless gun violence could easily fill the silence.

Hilary had just started her third beer when she broke the silence. She had a lot on her mind and did not understand why Noora was here. Surely she should be off comforting Amanda, her fellow Gopher. Hilary was the enemy. Maybe Noora had poisoned the beer. She voiced her concerns.

“No!” Noora laughed. “I would never do that to any alcohol. Besides, I am drinking it too.”

“Why are you here and not comforting Amanda?” Hilary demanded. “She’s your teammate.”

“I thought I should not talk about her.”

“Fuck Amanda Kessel!”

“No thank you.” Noora took a sip of her beer. Hilary stared. “What? She is not my type.”

“How could she not be? Amanda’s perfect!”

“I like tall women,” Noora said, shrugging. “Amanda is not.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“You need me more than she does right now. Amanda is hurt yes, but she will be cared for by our teammates. You, on the other hand, were devastated and I know you will not turn to your teammates for help.”

“And how could you possibly have figured that out?” Hilary asked snidely. This lady didn’t know shit about her.

“Because if the woman I loved more than anything else in the world cut me out of her life this is what I would do. Though I probably would have picked up a couple bottles of whiskey on the way home,” Noora said. “Besides, I feel guilty for straining your relationship.”

“It was already fucked to hell,” Hilary grumbled.

“Not true,” Noora said, shaking her head. “You know Kessel could not shut up about you her first year on the team? Every one of her stories featured you. I got a good sense of you from her.”

“She never mentioned that,” Hilary said. They both started a new bottle. “If I was so special to her why did she dump me?”

“I cannot answer that,” Noora said, shrugging. “But if I had to guess, if you were not Hilary Knight would you want to live in Hilary Knight’s shadow?”

“Fuck,” Hilary said.

They continued to drink. After a while Hilary realized the Western they had been watching had ended and a new one was now playing. The first hadn’t had singing cowboys. Or werewolves. Noora was licking her takeout box, which is how Hilary realized she was still hungry too. They ordered two large pizzas and four orders of pasta from Glass Nickel Pizza. Technically she was going completely off her diet, but Hilary didn’t care. What did it matter if Amanda had cut her out of her life?

“You need to mourn the end of a relationship,” Noora insisted. “If you never grieve you never move on. Fixating on an old lover is bad news.”

“Are you saying I wouldn’t have fucked up with Amanda if I had done this a year and a half ago?” Hilary asked. Noora considered the question as she sucked on a chicken wing. Hilary hadn’t remembered ordering chicken wings.

“You still would have fucked up, but less badly,” Noora pronounced.

“Well that sucks,” Hilary laughed. She shook her bottle at Noora. She lost some of the beer to the couch, which was a shame because the couch didn’t drink. “How’d you get to be such a love guru?”

“Experience.”

“You get your heart broken a lot?”

“More like it keeps cracking in the same place.”

“Oh?”

“The love of my life is very straight.”

“You certain you didn’t just get fixated?” Hilary asked. “Sounds like someone didn’t take her own advice.”

“Nope,” Noora said. She gave Hilary a small smile. It was the first time she had seemed fragile to Hilary. “I have tried everything to get over Mira, including not seeing her for almost two years, but nothing has worked. I accepted a long time ago that we would simply be friends for life. We live together and I have sex with lots of beautiful women. I am content with my lot.”

“How long have you loved her?” Hilary asked.

“I realized when I happily agreed to stand and hold the antenna for the entire length of the Women’s Gold Medal Game in Salt Lake City. I could only see half the TV screen, but Mira was so happy.” Noora chuckled as a genuine smile spread across her face. Hilary figured this Mira chick had to be something special to elicit this sort of response. She felt bad Noora was so certain her feelings were doomed. “It was worth it. So… at least nine years I guess.”

“That sucks, bro,” Hilary said. “Really sorry about that.” Noora nodded in agreement. Hilary realized she had already described the situation as sucking not that long ago. Her vast vocabulary was failing her. At least Noora didn’t seem to notice.

When the singing werewolf cowboy movie ended Noora got up to pee. Between the two of them they had drunk a little over half the case of beer. Hilary surveyed the sea of empties nestled among the takeout boxes on the coffee table. She figured she had about three beers on the Gopher as she popped the top off another bottle. Hilary took a long pull from her new bottle. A commercial came on the TV featuring lush farmland, beautiful lakes, and cows. When the commercial commanded she visit Wisconsin Hilary spat out her beer and howled.

“What is wrong?” Noora asked, running into the room.

“That’s not Wisconsin!” Hilary spat as she jerked a finger at the TV. The ad was replaying.

“Looks like Wisconsin to me,” Noora said.

“No, Wisconsin is an awful place full of snow and blizzards and road construction. It’s boring accents and Scott Walker,” Hilary insisted. “Absolutely terrible. The Worst. Wisconsin is too cold and frigid, just like Amanda Kessel.”

“Okay, I think you have had enough,” Noora said. She plucked Hilary’s bottle from her hands as tears began to roll down the Badger’s cheeks. Noora grabbed the case and put the rest of the beer in the fridge before returning to Hilary, who was now sobbing.

“Why won’t she love me?” Hilary wailed. “What did I do to offend the queen of Wisconsin?”

“Shh,” Noora said. She pulled Hilary’s head to her chest and began rubbing her back. Hilary clung to her. “You are a strong independent woman and while it hurts now, you will survive this.”

Hilary didn’t answer her. She was too drunk and sad to form a coherent reply. All Hilary could manage was small hiccupy sobs. Noora seemed to understand because she didn’t let go. Instead she just kept rubbing Hilary’s back. She couldn’t remember the last time she had received comfort like this. Hilary fell asleep in Noora’s arms.

The first thought that registered when Hilary woke was that her mouth tasted like ass. The second was that her head felt it had ruptured and her brains were oozing out through her ears. The third was that she smelled bacon. It was the bacon that got Hilary to roll over despite the protests from her head, neck, and back. When she sat up Hilary felt like she was going to vomit, but the nausea passed and she soon got to her feet. When she stumbled into the kitchen the Badger found Noora frying bacon, but cooking nothing else. Not even coffee. She quickly put on a pot.

“You don’t even have the decency to make coffee,” Hilary said, shaking her head. She did accept the bottle of pain pills Noora offered.

“I never make my own coffee,” Noora said. She flipped the bacon. “Besides, you had Pepsi. Perfect substitute.”

“Philistine. How about frying an egg? Is that beneath you too?” Hilary pulled out the egg carton and cracked two open into the frying pan.

“No,” Noora said. She pulled the bacon out of the pan before the raw egg oozed over it. “Cooking is not in my skill set.”

“How do you not know how to cook an egg? It’s an egg!” Hilary said. She tried the bacon. It was decent, thought perhaps a touch chewier than she would have preferred it. Still bacon was like sex; even pretty terrible bacon was worth having.

“Mira cooks for me,” Noora said. “I can grill and make bacon. That is all.”

“What do you do if this Mira spends the night at a guy’s house?”

“Mira would never do that,” Noora said confidently. “If she wishes to spend the night with a man she brings him home. She figures it is safer with me around.”

“Okay,” Hilary said. “But what about if she’s gone on a trip without you?”

“We always travel together since we are on the same team,” Noora said, “but I understand your meaning. Last year Mira went home for several days after our Christmas cruise. She made me two hot dishes, a pot roast, and many pieces of French toast beforehand. She put it all in the freezer with microwaving instructions so that I would eat more than takeout while she was gone.”

“Christmas cruise? That’s not even slightly weird,” Hilary said. “Are you certain you’re not married?”

“Completely. Our families were along too.”

“Not helping your case here, Räty. Did you bunk with her or your folks?”

“Her, but that was only because my brother brought his wife and children. Mira knows I like my sleep without wailing infants. Besides, her parents adore me.”

“Gee, that’s a surprise,” Hilary said. “They probably think you’re her wife.” Noora smiled. Hilary dished out the eggs and cracked a few more into the pan. “But you have sex with ladies. What happens when you bring them home? Or is Mira the only one who brings people home?”

“Mira cooks them breakfast too,” Noora said as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

“You guys are so fucking weird,” Hilary laughed.

“But you would still have sex with me again in a heartbeat,” Noora said.

“Only if Mira’ll make me breakfast in the morning,” Hilary said with a straight face. “If I had realized that was part of the standard package I would have dragged her ass home too.”

After breakfast Hilary armed herself with her biggest pair of sunglasses before dragging Noora to campus. She wanted to prove that the Madison campus was far superior to the Twin Cities campus even if the women’s rink wasn’t quite finished. This was why they ended up at the Kohl Center looking over the construction of the women’s ice rink. The skeleton was up and Hilary could already see what the arena would look like, but there was still almost a year’s worth of work to go. Noora wasn’t impressed. Obviously she didn’t have Hilary’s vision.

The Gopher was a lot more taken with Memorial Union and its vast array of Babcock Ice Cream. Hilary bought them both massive cones heaped with multiple flavors. She then grabbed Noora by the arm and dragged her down the hall to Der Rathskeller for a pitcher of beer. Armed with beer and ice cream the two exited the Union for the Terrace. Hilary sat them down at a table overlooking the lake. Hilary took a yellow chair, Noora a green. Tiny sailboats were whizzing around the lake, the Hoofer Sailing Club kept it up until Mendota froze over each year.

“Bet your student union doesn’t sell beer,” Hilary said.

“No,” Noora agreed, “but we have bars for that. I am more impressed by the ice cream and sailing.”

“Babcock is the University brand. Our cows make the milk right on campus,” Hilary said proudly. “We have the second largest sailboat fleet in the nation.”

“Who has the first?”

“The US Navy.”

“Oh.”

“Do you want me to take you out on the lake?” Hilary asked. “I’m a member. We can totally go sailing.”

Noora grinned, but shook her head. “Another time.”

When they finished their beer they went for a walk along the Lakeshore Path. Hilary often ran the path from the Union to Picnic Point and back, but today she stopped when they reached the marching band’s practice grounds. They listened as the conductor made the band play the first verse of ‘On Wisconsin’ three times.

“What do you think?” Hilary asked.

“It is better than that song asking me to take a Badger’s hand by the light of the moon,” was all Noora said. Hilary rolled her eyes. She knew exactly what song Noora was talking about, but she had the lyrics completely messed up. Gophers did not understand proper school spirit.

However, Noora was full of praise for the Allen Centennial Garden. Hilary patted herself on the back for bringing her here. Noora was enamored with the flowers and the manicured topiary designs. They stood on the red bridge and fed the goldfish crumbs from a saltine packet Hilary found in her pocket. There were other people in the garden, but they stuck to the grassy patches enjoying the October sun. They had the pond to themselves.

“I love how nice the weather is here,” Noora said. “Back home this pond would already be frozen over.”

“Seriously?”

“In Finland we have snow from October through May.”

“Yuck,” Hilary said. She had thought Wisconsin winters were bad. “Well, if you get the winter blues stop by sometime. I’ll show you the Birge Hall greenhouse. It’s open to the public during business hours and I like to go there to warm up when the snow is thigh high.” Noora nodded, which made Hilary grin. Her new friend might actually take her up on her offer.

They went back to the Kohl Center via Bascom Hill. The sea of plastic flamingos decorating the incline impressed Noora, but they couldn’t stop for more than a photo or two. There wasn’t time to do anything else before they had to meet their respective teams and Hilary suspected Noora might be in trouble for being AWOL most of the trip. They parted ways at the entrance with a fist bump. This relieved Hilary. She and Noora were on the same page.

The game was worse than the one before. Despite the last remnants of her hangover Hilary played better. She was craftier when her play wasn’t fueled by rage. Seeing Amanda on the ice hurt. Every time their eyes met Hilary felt a throb in her chest. Otherwise she felt hollowed out and numb. That was probably for the best because the Gophers were out for her blood. Players had forcibly introduced Hilary’s face to the boards six times in the first period. The Gophers were targeting her, especially the tall lady playing defense. She wouldn’t let Hilary cross the blue line.

Hilary didn’t make it past the blue line until late second period when she took a face off. She won and the puck safely made it to Meghan Duggan. As she breezed by a Gopher Hilary felt a pain at the back of her head and she was suddenly on her ass. Someone had yanked her ponytail hard enough to knock her off her feet. Before the ref could blow her whistle Brianna Decker slammed into a Gopher, probably the one who had taken Hilary out. The noise level in the Kohl quadrupled as the ice turned into a white and maroon mess.

As soon as Hilary was back on her feet she took a hit to the stomach that almost put her back on her ass. Luckily she didn’t go down and she was able to rise up again. She took a punch to the face cage, but this time Hilary was ready. When the fist hit she intentionally threw her head back to lessen the blow and delivered a quick hook of her own. This paused the onslaught long enough for Hilary to get a look at her opponent. It was that tall defense woman who had been acting like Hilary had spat in her face all night. She was taking off her gloves. Well, if she wanted to dance Hilary was more than happy to oblige. Hilary threw off her gloves and went for the taller woman’s helmet.

She did the same, and much to Hilary’s dismay, ripped off the Badger’s helmet first. Hilary smacked the woman’s helmet enough to knock it off kilter obscuring her vision, but she had a grip on Hilary’s jersey and delivered two quick jabs to her face. Hilary smacked her hand away and finally dislodged the other woman’s helmet. Hilary took another one-two. This time she was able to counter. A single hard right left the defenseman dazed. Hilary moved to throw an uppercut, but an arm wrapped around hers as a short player wedged herself between them. Hilary was stunned as she gently glided backwards a few inches. 

“Both of you knock it off right now,” Noora snapped.

Hilary dropped her fists. She wasn’t feeling so hot anymore and she could see the refs coming. It was surprising they hadn’t already been broken up, but from the looks of things the officials had their hands full. Both penalty boxes were bursting. Hilary couldn’t spot Amanda anywhere.

The tall defense player shook her head then lunged for Hilary again. Noora grabbed her by both arms and pushed against her, holding the angry woman back. To Hilary’s surprise the tall woman submitted to the goalie’s hold and didn’t try to fight her off.

“Mira no,” Noora said firmly. This caused the woman to cease struggling. Noora reached up and stroked her cheek. "Lopeta se tappeleminen."

If this was Noora’s Mira that explained everything. Hilary burst out laughing spewing blood everywhere. She didn’t know what lies Amanda had told the Gophers about her last night, and even if she hadn’t said anything, Kessel had probably cried a fair amount. Teammates were protective of each other to begin with, which explained most of the team’s behavior, but Mira was something else. From Noora’s stories last night she knew they were seriously weird and protective of each other. With even an inkling that Hilary was attempting to predate Noora of course Mira would attack Hilary. She was trying to protect her platonic life partner. It also explained why a goalie willingly inserted herself into the middle of a brawl.

A referee took Hilary’s arm while both linesmen grabbed Mira. The other referee stopped to talk with Noora, the only player besides Alex left on the ice. The referee guided Hilary toward the tunnel instead of the box and for that Hilary was grateful. She was still dripping blood and she was having a hard time breathing. When she looked down at her white with red uniform Hilary saw that it had reversed. The red lettering for ‘Wisconsin’ on across her chest blended into her blood. No one would wear this jersey again.

As the Minnesota Gophers had clearly been the aggressors they had three players expelled from the game, while Wisconsin only lost Brianna. Hilary didn’t return either, but her absence was medical not disciplinary in nature. She had taken the brunt of the damage in the fight and besides a split lip Hilary might have a broken nose. The medic said they’d have to wait until the swelling had gone down tomorrow to be certain. Her nose hurt like hell.

It was a damn shame Hilary couldn’t return to the game. With Mira gone she probably could have scored. Unfortunately she was benched and without Hilary or Brianna the Badgers had lost half their firepower. She hated to admit it, but the Gophers had more depth to their team, even if the Badgers were last year’s NCAA champions. In the last three minutes of the game Bozek slipped the puck past Alex and the Gophers scored. Noora got a shutout.

Hilary was crushed. She had been certain they could beat them tonight. The only good part of being injured was that she didn’t have to take part in the after game handshake. As it was the coaches almost cancelled it because the players were still so wound up. The locker room was very quiet after the game.

Even though Hilary had already changed she was the last to leave the locker room. Hilary had worn the ‘A’ and not only was she the team’s top scorer, she was also a senior. Everyone looked up to her. Responsibility didn’t thrill Hilary, but if she had it she wouldn’t shrug it off. She talked to every one of her teammates to make certain they were in a good headspace. The team would have a poor season if they couldn’t recover from two losses to Minnesota this early in the season. It wasn’t fun, but Hilary knew it was the right move. Thanks to Amanda they all knew she had slept with Noora, but no one disparaged her for it and not a single person blamed Hilary for the fight.

When she left the locker room to she ran straight into a pack of Gophers. Amanda and Mira were there along with the other two suspended Gophers. No sign of Noora. Everyone looked pissed. Hilary briefly wondered how hard it would be to retreat back into her locker room. She quickly dismissed the idea. They would be on her before she got the door open. Best to act confident and unworried, Hilary Knight style.

“Oh fuck,” Hilary drawled. “What do you guys want now?”

“For you to stay away from Noora,” Amanda said.

“And if I don’t? Will the not so gentle giant,” Hilary said, nodding at Mira, “break another part of me?”

“No one was supposed to get injured on the ice,” Amanda said. She had turned bright red. Hilary couldn’t tell if she was angry or embarrassed. Probably both. “If you had just left everything alone none of this would have happened.”

“How could I?” Hilary demanded. “You’re my best friend and you won’t even see me anymore! You don’t talk or let me in!”

“You only slept with Noora to hurt me!” Amanda screamed.

Hilary balked at that. She didn’t know what to say. Technically, Amanda was right. Hilary had been trying to make her jealous, but in the process she had made a genuine connection with Noora and became bros. She couldn’t give up a friend to please another. Especially when that friend was barely speaking to her.

The Gophers took her silence as an admission of guilt. They moved a hell of a lot closer than Hilary was comfortable with. They were close enough that she could touch them, which meant they could grab her.

“You have already hurt one of my teammates,” Mira said as she glared at Hilary. “I will make you rue the day you were born if you harm Noora too.”

Hilary bit the inside of her cheek and thought carefully about what she would say next. Forget overprotective, Mira might kill her if she determined Hilary was a serious enough threat to Noora and the rest of the team would help. She needed to deescalate the situation.

“While it is true I originally took Noora home to make Kessel jealous,” Hilary began. The Gophers looked pissed. “That was before I knew who Noora was and I delivered everything I promised her. She had a much better grasp of the situation than I did. Since then I’ve developed a hell of a lot of respect for her as a person; I’ve always respected her as a player. I really like Noora and I would never intentionally hurt her.”

Hilary trailed off, uncertain what else she could say. The Gophers hadn’t gotten any closer, but they were still angry. Hilary could tell Amanda didn’t believe her. Or if she did she didn’t care. Hilary was running out of options on getting out of this mess in one piece.

“Everybody back off!” Noora barked. She pushed her way through to Hilary. “No one touches my girlfriend!”

“Your girlfriend?” Amanda asked incredulously. Hilary was too stunned by the announcement to say anything.

“Yes,” Noora said, turning to give Hilary a pointed look. “It’s a new relationship.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Amanda said. “How?”

“Well Amanda, when a woman likes another woman and the feeling is mutual they sometimes start a relationship,” Hilary said. She had figured out what Noora was doing, saving her skin. Hilary wrapped her arms around Noora’s shoulders as the goalie slipped an arm around Hilary’s waist. Hilary wasn’t used to taking such a flirtatious position with another woman, but the Gophers respected Noora’s authority and this was not the time to undermine that. “We had our first actual date this morning.”

“Perhaps not the most romantic, but it was a lot of fun,” Noora said. She leaned up and kissed Hilary’s jaw. “We can work on that.”

“Oh my god,” Amanda said.

“We’re going to try the long distance thing,” Hilary said.

“Hopefully it will work,” Noora said. “And if it does not, we will handle it ourselves like adults. Privately. Is that understood?”

“Why her?” Mira asked. She looked pained. “Out of all the women in all the cities why her?”

“Mira,” Noora said, giving her a small sad smile. “Jos sä yhtään välität musta niin sä et kyseenalaistaisi mun valintaa."

“Fine,” Mira said. She looked so sad Hilary wondered if she didn’t want Noora dating anyone. Mira walked up to the goalie and kissed the top of her head. “Ole varovainen ja tule takaisin yhtenä kappaleena.”

“Of course,” Noora said. She gave Mira such a big warm smile Hilary figured everyone else in the room had to be blind not to see how in love Noora was with her. She wouldn’t discount the possibility though, they were Gophers after all.

Mira stood up and backed away. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go. They deserve all the free time alone they can get. I will consult Frosty.”

“That’s it? You’re just going to leave Noora in Hilary’s hands?” Amanda asked. “Mira, it’s Noora!”

“Exactly,” Mira sighed. “The only reason I accept this is because it is Noora.”

“Huh?”

“I trust Noora’s judgment. I know she can do better than your ex,” Mira said. Hilary winced. Yeah, she was now certain Mira’s feelings were stronger than Noora thought. Perhaps they were stronger than either Finn realized. “But this is what Noora wants and I will always support her. I will do whatever I can to make her happy.”

That seemed to be the last word on the subject. Amanda deflated a little then took Mira’s hand. The defenseman led the Gophers away with no more objections. Amanda glanced back over her shoulder at Hilary several times, but she said nothing. Under the circumstances Hilary didn’t know what she could say.

When the Gophers were out of sight they let go of each other. Hilary sighed in relief and Noora laughed. They grinned at each other happy to have carried out the ruse. It was their first in-joke. Hilary hoped they remained friends to make more.

“Were you serious about the girlfriend thing?” Hilary asked.

“Hell no,” Noora laughed. “You are not pretty enough.” Hilary laughed too and punched her in the arm.

“In all seriousness I can’t believe that worked.”

“It nearly did not,” Noora said. She rubbed her temples. “I need to find a spectacular present for Mira later. The team believed it because she believed me. I think she’s hurt I did not tell her about you.”

“When would you have had the chance?”

“If we were really dating I would have found time,” Noora frowned.

“I believe you,” Hilary said. The Finns had proven that they were scary close tonight. “So, if we’re fake dating, at least for the night, is there anything you want to do? You can’t go back to the team, they’ll know something’s up.”

Noora looked thoughtful before grinning. “We could always have sex.”

Hilary grinned too.

They went back to her apartment and then they banged. Again. Hilary thought it was better than last time, even with her possibly broken nose, because there wasn’t any stress or resentment attached. This time she didn’t send any photos or texts afterward. Instead she just flopped back against her pillows and ignored the fact Noora wasn’t the slightest bit interested in cuddling. That was something Amanda had always been willing to do. Actually, she insisted upon it.

It wasn’t until after Noora left the next morning that Hilary realized she hadn’t gotten her phone number. At least they weren’t really dating. Otherwise that could have been awkward. Still, Hilary wouldn’t have minded keeping in touch with her new goalie bro.

Hilary didn’t hear from Amanda for two weeks. It was the longest they hadn’t talked for since Amanda left Madison for Minnesota. However, Hilary hadn’t expected to hear from her again until it was time to do something with the national team. Amanda was absurdly good at keeping grudges. She was surprisingly vindictive when she wanted to be. Hilary found that trait absurdly attractive when it wasn’t directed at her. Usually it was directed at her, which Hilary had to admit, was probably because she always intentionally enraged the other girl.

_Hey Hils_

Hilary froze when she read the text. She didn’t know if it was a trick or a trap or if someone had stolen Amanda’s phone. She’d wait and see.

_Do you need to talk? Noora told me you guys broke up last night._

Hilary grimaced. She still hadn’t talked to Noora. This was probably a trap of some sort. Either Amanda was going to prove Hilary and Noora had never dated or else that she was being unfaithful to Noora. Silence would just make her look spiteful. Noora probably had told Amanda they had broken up. It had been a quick and short-term fix to keep Hilary from being murdered. 

_I know you don’t do well with break ups, which is why I offered._

Hilary decided to go with her gut.

_**Noora and I don’t communicate well long distance.** _

_How come?_

Telling her they never exchanged phone numbers wouldn’t work. Hilary needed something more emotionally based. Otherwise she’d just piss Amanda off again.

_**Turns out we communicate best physically.** _

_How R U holding up?_

_**I’ve been better.** _

Hilary left off the bit that she was hurting because she missed Amanda. That probably wouldn’t fly well. She was supposed to be grieving Noora at the moment.

_I’m sorry ☹_

_Noora wouldn’t say a lot about ur break up_

_**Peaceful**_ Hilary texted back. _**I think we can be bros. Eventually.**_

_Good. I’m here if u need me._

Hilary felt more hopeful about Amanda than she had in months. She couldn’t remember the last time Amanda had freely offered an ear. Maybe they could patch things up after all.

_**I know. ☺** _

_☺_

**Author's Note:**

> The Finnish in this is conversational Finnish, not properly grammatical Finnish. Again, thanks to oanja for the translations, if there are any issues with them that’s my bad, not hers. I am extremely grateful for the help. Here is the meaning behind the Finnish Noora and Mira used in this story:
> 
> "Lopeta se tappeleminen" means “stop fighting”
> 
> "Jos sä yhtään välität musta niin sä et kyseenalaistaisi mun valintaa." Is supposed to mean in English, “If you care about me at all you won’t question it.”
> 
> "Ole varovainen ja tule takaisin yhtenä kappaleena" means “Be careful. Come back to me in one piece.”


End file.
